Then, I didn't know too much about the symptoms of HIV. The symptoms I did have didn't last long. I did have pneumonia once but it was a very slight case and I recovered in a very short time. That made me think maybe I really didn't have HIV.

Then I was admitted to hospital after I fainted at home and I had anaemia. I recovered, but then all of a sudden things changed and my condition got really, really bad. It was then that I realised I had HIV even though I hadn't actually been tested. I needed to talk to someone about the situation, so I talked with my family. I told them about my homosexuality and told them I had contracted HIV. They are kind of open-minded, my entire family. They are very supportive.

The first thing I told them was 'I'm sorry'. Then I told them I had HIV and that I was a homosexual. They said 'you don't know you are actually infected with HIV because they haven't done any testing'. They were in a kind of denial as well.

When they realised that I was certain about it, they accepted it. I come from a large, traditional Chinese family. They handled it very well. They really didn't do anything different once they knew. They love me the same way they always have.

When I got the news that I was HIV-positive I was actually relieved. All the fear had come before. Now I am receiving the cocktail therapy and I really didn't suffer from a whole lot of side effects that other patients have. I've been lucky and I'm lucky too that I have a very supportive family.

An Aids NGO gave me a lot of help. They told me that having HIV doesn't mean death. I saw how a lot of people affected by HIV were able to live life just like a normal person. I have changed. In the past I took a lot of things for granted. I look at things differently now. Because I was raised in a protective environment I really didn't know what was going on in society. I'd never seen really poor people before. I didn't know a lot of the problems other people suffered from. I didn't have to worry about not having money.

People in Hong Kong think of HIV as something remote. Take me as an example. Even though I knew I probably had HIV I didn't think of going to have a test or doing something to help myself because I didn't know about anything.

As an educated person, I think I should have known more. No one gave me any education about HIV. There should be more education about HIV, starting from the very beginning, in primary schools and also in the early years of secondary schools, because teenagers are having sex. Schools should be teaching them to protect themselves.

Housewives also need to be told how to protect themselves. A lot of Chinese men use commercial sex services and with the large number of sex workers from China and other parts of Southeast Asia and the fact men aren't practising safe sex, there really is a risk. Women mustn't assume they are their husbands' only lover.

Early testing should also be promoted. If I had been tested earlier my body and my health would not have deteriorated as much. Although I live like a normal person, compared to maybe three years ago I am not as well.

The doctors haven't really told me exactly how much longer I can live. Who knows - there may be new medication one day that can cure HIV and Aids. I have regular checks-up and the doctors say so far I am recovering quite well. I expect to live as long as I

would have done before.